EXTREMELY HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION!! What would happened if the Declaration of Indendence was destroyed?

Question

THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL- WHICH MEANS I AM NOT ASKING IF IT COULD BE DESTROYED. ONY IF IT WOULD BE!

*Don't give me answers saying "The Declaration of Independence could never be destroyed because..."
THAT IS NOT THE QUESTION!
What would happen if it were torn, stolen, or completely destroyed?
Would we lose our rights?

Answer 1

Our rights are gauranteed by the Constitution. The Declaration of Independense was just that, a declaration stating that we wanted to become independent from England. It stated why we felt we had the right to leave. Today it is just a important symbolic document. It would be a terrible loss but it wouldn't affect the goings on of the country or anyones rights.

Answer 2

The loss of the original document does not invalidate its contents. There have been enough copies so the contents are clear. The Declaration is a historical fact. England is not going to take us back simply because some mice had a meal on it.

It is the same with the Bible. The original copies have long ago deteriorated, but before that happened, copies were made, then meticulously checked, and after that the original was destroyed so tall tales of its contents would not arise (but that happened anyway). No, the disappearance of this original document or the Constitution will not invalidate its contents.

Answer 3

Here's the secret: the original was lost a long, long time ago. The version that's in the Nat'l Archives is an "engrossed" copy that was prepared in 1777, and signed by most of the original delegates. In the 19th century, copies were made of this version by the antiquated technique of wetting the document and pressing it on a copper sheet. Some of the ink was transferred to the copper, and a chemical etching process was used to make it into a printing plate. The original document was so faded as a result, that it could hardly be read. The reason it's readable today is that it was essentially rewritten in a series of restoration processes. In a very real sense, we don't have the original, or anything close to it. But we have lots of copies.

Answer 4

The Declaration of Independence is not the document that guarantees our freedoms. That is the Constitution.
If the DofI were destroyed, you'd mainly have a lot of really angry historians and archivests because of the loss of the original document. But its destruction would have absolutely no effect on our freedoms.

Answer 5

The Declaration of independence doesn't contain our rights but a list of grievances committed against us in our earliest age. Our constitution however would prove a blow to the rights of America.
Then again you don't need a piece of paper (Or parchment) to tell you what you can and can't do.
Just because the original constitution is gone doesn't mean there are hundreds of endless copies.
The same applies for the Declaration of Independence.
Or so I believe.

Answer 6

In political or legal terms, nothing. The text is widely available.
There are half a dozen copies from 1776 still around, I think, so they'd just put one of them in the glass case.
If it was destroyed through someone's negligence, they wouldn't have a good time, but that's the only consequence I can see.

Answer 7

The National archieves has copies. So if the Magna Carta, Declaration of Indepence or US Consititution was some how destoried. We would still be free from England and all of our laws would still be in place.

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Answer 8

We would lose a national treasure.

The question is absurd that our rights would be gone. That is like saying you would die if your birth certificate was destroyed.

Answer 9

well the next generation wouldn't know of democracy and our way of life would be unpreserved to our grandchildren

Answer 10

There are plenty of copys